DOING OUR LITTLE BIT

I belong to a community organization where most meetings turn into gripe sessions. People complain constantly about things over which the organization has no power. On those occasions in which people might band together to get something done, the meeting falls silent. No one wants to do anything more strenuous than perhaps sign a petition. I was utterly ignored at one meeting where I suggested a few letters written by individuals would get more of a rise out of a politician than 50 names on a petition. Nobody wanted to hear that because it involved some effort. No, people wanted somebody else to do something to satisfy their demands.

It brought back memories of a church I once served. It had been a struggling congregation for 25 years. Most of that time it had been on mission support. In fact, that support had only ended a couple of years before I arrived. I had only been there a few months when a council member took me aside to suggest that I start the process of going back on mission support. I declined to do so arguing the reason the congregation was in such bad financial condition was that they had become dependent on someone else paying the bills–like a 47 year old “kid” who expects mommy and daddy to support him. It was time to sink or swim. We didn’t sink, but we didn’t exactly swim. It was more like treading water, but we did it for the next 20 years.

I believe that organizations–especially churches–have to become self reliant. I don’t know if my attitude is a virtue or a vice, but I find it objectionable when churches expect others to take care of their needs. Now I see nothing wrong with supporting new missions. They almost all need help getting started. And I am 100% in favor of churches banding together to tackle projects that are too big for one church alone. But I reject the idea that a church should depend on “something” outside their church to support the church's work.

My current church is in a building program. Our work, particu- larly in Christian education, has been hampered for years by lack of space. After several false starts, we got a plan put together which was within our grasp. Because of the generous contribution of the members and friends, we were able to put better than 40% down and borrow the rest to construct the new building. Oh, there were a few people who suggested that we write to certain famous people asking for money or that we have a Las Vegas night to raise cash, but we knew if we wanted to do something, we had to do it ourselves.

And lest it appear that we are only concerned about ourselves, I have another story or three. My church’s community has one of the highest concentrations of children receiving reduced or free lunch programs. With the leadership of the local Presbyterian church we provide school supplies and Thanksgiving baskets for as many people as we can. On our own we ran a free meal and employment workshop. We support Food4Kids, a program that sends backpacks of food home with kids so they have something to eat on weekends. OK, so I’m bragging, but these are examples of the church doing things to aid other people, one done on our own, one done with another church, one done with an inter-church agency, Interfaith Emergency Services (which never takes government money.)

And I should mention that our local Pinelands Conference of Lutheran churches is having its own appeal in October. We looked around and noticed the cut backs in funding for several ministries in our area. Rather than bemoan the injustice of the Powers-That-Be we decided to do something on our own to help a mission congregation, campus ministry, and our Lutheran camp. Back when I started in ministry a move like that would have been squashed mercilessly by the Higher-Ups. Local groups of churches were absolutely NOT to raise funds.  Instead we were commended by our Bishop for trying to do something. I hope that is a sign of change. I can recall too many lectures from the Authorities that seemed to belittle local efforts for draining off funds for official projects.  

Don’t get me wrong. I think programs like Lutheran Disaster Response and Lutheran World Relief are worthy of support. They are well managed and do a tremendous amount of good on behalf of the church. We always have special offerings for them. It’s just that big programs like that can miss the needs local congregations see. We can’t wait for Somebody Up There to do something. We need to do it ourselves. I know our efforts are rather puny, but 250 kids in Marion County will have something to eat this weekend because of one little church’s efforts. I keep wondering what would happen if the 31 churches in our immediate community did the same. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to interest any of them in this project.

I once heard German theologian Helmut Thielicke say, “We cannot make a Paradise on earth. We can only do a little bit to make things better, but we must do that little bit. With God’s blessings, we do our little bit.

May the Lord God bless you on your journey and greet you on your arrival.

Wayne










The pictures are from the Our Saviour Vacation Bible School

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WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU LEMONS, MAYBE YOU SHOULD GO GET A HAMBURGER

My apologies to the members of my church who will be reading most of this in my next Pastor’s Letter in The Good Life.

I shipped 22 boxes of stuff from my old home in Chicago to Florida recently. It was an odd collection of things ranging from a cemetery plot deed for a relative who died in 1905 to my notes from Music Theory I and II. There was also a file of papers with a letter I thought was long lost. The letter told me I wasn’t going to get a job I had applied for. It was one of the most significant letters in my life. That entails a story.

I was in my last year of college where I was a music major. My thoughts were turning toward a job which for most musicians always means teaching. There are only a few musicians like Jack Benny who can fiddle their way to fame and fortune. (By the way, I studied music at the same place Jack Benny studied for a time, Chicago Musical College.) I was reading The Lutheran magazine and discovered an ad from the Board of World Missions of the Lutheran Church in America. They were looking for short-term missioners for a variety of positions, one of which was a teacher for English and choral music at Nomensen University in Indonesia. Goodness, I had been speaking English all my life, and my area of specialization was in choral music. And I would be able to serve the church in some capacity. I pondered it for a day or two and was convinced this was what God meant me to do. I fired off a letter to the Board of World Missions, filled out endless applications. In January, 1971, I was interviewed by Pr. Norman Nuding, Secretary for Missionary Personnel.

The interview went pretty well, although there was a hitch in that they expected the teacher of English and choral music also to coach soccer. I didn’t even know the rules for soccer let alone have the ability to coach a team.  On the other hand it turned out Pr. Nuding and I had two acquaintances in common, Dr. David Larson who was my professor of choral music and Pr. Marvin Tack, a Chicago pastor whom I greatly admired.  I have since run across several other pastors who know Pr. Nuding and speak of him with great admiration.

I went home planning my future in Indonesia. It was as if my whole life up to that point had been leading me to this. A week later a letter arrived from Pr. Nuding. They had chosen another of the candidates for the position, although if he didn’t work out, I would be next on the list.  One piece of paper can destroy your life in an instant–at least it feels that way.

But here is the last paragraph from Pr. Nuding’s letter. “God go with you as you make decisions regarding the future of your life. I trust that you will find an occupation which will give you the opportunity for service to your Lord.”

Those two sentences are what God used to give me the nudge to pursue ordained ministry. I had never considered becoming a pastor. Never. I was a good enough Lutheran to know that God can be served in any vocation, but there was just something in those words of Pr. Nuding that sent me in a new direction. Within a few months I was applying to a seminary and beginning the long process of being endorsed by a synodical church vocations committee. About the only person to be surprised by this decision was me. Other people had been able to see it coming for some time.

How strange it is that God uses a moment of crushing defeat and failure to send us in new and better directions. It shouldn’t be surprising since on Good Friday everyone thought that the Powers of Evil had destroyed Jesus. An empty tomb three days later showed the world how wrong it had been. “Jesus lives! The victory’s won!” the old hymn by Christian Gellert begins. And then declares: “God will be a sure defense. This shall be my confidence.”

There is a popular saying that when one door closes, another one opens. Sometimes it is said that God opens that new door. I don’t believe that. But I do believe that sometime God uses a situation to help us see where another door has always been.

I also learned a pastoral skill from the job I didn’t get: the need for encouragement. I became a pastor in part because of the encouragement of a man with whom I spent only a few hours of my life.  When a person has suffered a set-back in life, the last thing they need is someone to berate them or tell them, “I told you so.” What I needed and what everyone needs is encouragement. As St: Paul wrote: “Therefore encourage one another and build up each other” (1 Thessalonians 5:11).

God is wonderful and will do wonderful things with us. I am sure of this because I have confidence in God who never forsakes us. No matter what happens, no mater what wrong turn life seems to take trust God, our Rock, our Fortress, our Sure Defense.

May the Lord bless you on your journey and greet you on your arrival.

Wayne

Note: the picture at the head is from my ordination on May 29, 1977. You can tell it’s posed because I had my stole on which wouldn’t have been the case until after the laying on of hands. From left Dr. Robert H. Fisher, the Rev. Glen Ernst, the Rev Larry Pinnow, the Rev. Dennis Hallemeier.



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LETTER FROM AN UNGODLY, TROUBLEMAKER, UNRELIGIOUS HIJACKER

I have long thought that part of our nation’s greatness lies in our freedom of religion as guaran- teed in the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”  Even though the term isn’t used, I call this separation of church and state.

I am amazed at the number of Americans who hate the notion of separation of church and state. Some want the state to promote religion–at least their religion. I note with alarm the opposition to building a mosque in New York City because of its use by the Islamic faith. I am sure there wouldn’t have been the same opposition to a Christian church. Others want the church to be a sort of cheering section for the state, supporting the country in all things, right or wrong.

The latest issue that I have run into in my little corner of the world is opposition to the law that prohibits a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization from endorsing or opposing candidates for public office. One local cleric has spoken publicly against this prohibition several times. I have even been at an event at his church where the head of a woman’s group within the church was telling the members who they must support and who they must oppose in an upcoming election.

Recently a letter to the editor appeared in our local paper excoriating churches that didn’t take stands on political issues in order to protect their not-for-profit status. Ministers of such churches were called “unreligious hijackers” who have “discovered the ‘business of religion’ to be lucrative.” If they renounced their tax-exempt status, the only members they would lose would be “the 5 percent who are ungodly, liberal, socialist, trouble-makers.”

The letter warned that we would soon know who the “unreligious hijackers” are among the ministers because they would attack the letter. This ungodly, troublemaker, unreligious hijacker rose to the challenge. This is what I wrote.

Ocala Star Banner
August 11, 2010

To the Editor:

A letter to the editor, “The almighty 501(c)(3)”, declared: “In 1954, the ‘progressives' (aka liberals/socialists today) developed a gag order which baited churches with perks now known as the largest con job of that century.” The writer refers to a section of the Internal Revenue Act of 1954 which exempts specific types of nonprofit organizations from certain federal income taxes and, along with another provision, allows charitable contributions to be tax-deductible.

An organization that obtains 501(c)(3) status is prohibited from taking part in a campaign for or against a political candidate. The issue is fairness. Organizations should not be able to endorse or oppose candidates using tax-deductible funds.

The Act of 1954 was passed by a Republican-controlled Congress under the leadership of Joseph Martin and William Knowland and signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. None of these leaders were socialists.

I am a Christian minister serving a church whose denomination has 501(c)(3) status. We benefit from that status, but I don't consider us in the “business of religion.”

The restriction against endorsing candidates is to our advantage. While all in our congregation share a common faith and work to relieve suffering in our community, we differ in political views. Endorsing candidates would divide us in a way that would severely diminish what we could accomplish. I trust the members to use their God-given wisdom in making political decisions.

I’m waiting for the response. A letter of mine to the editor about depression got me an angry email denouncing me as an agent of Satan.

May the Lord bless you on your journey and greet you on your arrival.

Wayne




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THREE CUPS OF TEA

A quick book recommendation this week: Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time by David Relin. It’s not exactly a work of literature, but the story of Greg Mortenson is inspiring.

Mortenson is the son of Lutheran missionaries. He grew up in Tanzania which unquestionably had a profound influence on how he saw the world around him. After serving a hitch in the U.S. Army and a degree from the University of South Dakota in nursing and chemistry, he was overtaken by the sport of mountain climbing. On a failed expedition to climb K2 in Northwest Pakistan, he became separated from his party and lost. He wandered into the village of Korphe was he was taken in and cared for. He promised that he would someday return and build a school for the village. And so he did, raising money, buying supplies, and supervising construction. With the financial support of  Jean Hoerni, he established the Central Asia Institute which has now built 130 schools, primarily for girls, in the Pakistan and Afghanistan. The work has been accomplished at considerable risk to Mortenson. He has been kidnaped, his life threatened, and fatwas issued against him by angry mullahs. After all, he was working in the heartland of the Taliban.

The book title comes from a Balti proverb: “The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger. The second time you take tea, you are an honored guest. The third time you share a cup of tea, you become family.”


The story is impressive because of the example of what one determined person can accomplish. There have been a lot of people involved in the Central Asia Institute, but it is the vision of Greg Mortenson that guides it. I am in awe of people like Mortenson who really make a difference in the world.

There is also a lesson to be learned, one that we could all wish had been learned years ago. A person has to learn to appreciate and value the people they work with and their culture. We cannot impose their own views on others. I can’t help but wonder how much further along toward peace we would have been in Afghanistan if we had started 30 years ago to help people build schools and maybe dig wells or build simple bridges–all things that Mortenson has done.

If you have the time, read the book. Better yet, make the time to read it.

May the Lord bless you on your journey and greet you on your arrival.

Wayne


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